Sheet-music turner.



C. E. BELL; SHEET MUSIC TURNER. AIPLIGATION FILED 11u14, 1909.

Patented Mar. 21

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CUBA E. BELL, OF LAPORTE, INDIANA.

SHEET-MUSIC TURNER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

Application fued may 14, 1909. serial No. 495,907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CUBA E. BELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Laporte, in the county of Laporte and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Music Turners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to music leaf turners and the object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which is extremely simple in construction which may be readily applied to ordinary pianos and which has its parts so arranged that a sheet or leaf of music turned in one direction may be readily removed to its Original position.

With the above and other objects in view, which' will appear as the description progresses, the invention resides in the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing there has been illustrated a simple and a preferred embodiment of the improvement and in which, A

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the music leaf turner illustrating the same in applied position upon a piano. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation parts being shown in section of one portion of the device which is applied to the rear or back of the piano. Fig. 3 is a detail plan view of the foot operating mechanism positioned adjacent the front of the piano. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken upon the line 4 4 of Fig. 5 showing one arm partly turned. Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken at right angles to the device illustrated in Fig. 4.

In the accompanying drawings the nu meral 1 designates a piano of any usual make or construction. Positioned upon the top of the piano 1 and secured thereto in any desired manner is what I term a casing 2. This casing 2 has its end projecting beyond the front of the piano substantially cylindrical and this cylindrical portion is adapt-- ed for the reception of the operating wheel 3 of the device. The casing 2 directly behind the operating wheel 3 is provided with a partition 4 which extends vertically and which has its upper extremity cut away upon opposite sides to provide for the reception of suitable pulleys 5. These pulleys 5 are each adapted for the reception of suitable cables 6 which are wound in opposite directions upon the operating wheel 3. The outer extremity of the casing 2 is also provided with smaller pulleys 8 and these pulleys 8 are adapted to engage the said cable 6 and to direct them downwardly through a substantially semicylindrical member or sector 9. This sector 9 is provided with a suitable grooved wheel 10 and is pivotally connected with the rear or back of the piano as indicated by the numeral 11. The rear lower edge of the back of the piano 1 is also provided with a pair of spaced pulleys 12 and the front of the piano is provided with an L-shaped bracket 13 upon which is pivotally connected the operating lever 14. This lever 14 may be of any desired or preferred construction and in the present instance it is illustrated as being provided with a pair of spaced. rearwardly inclined foot engaging offsets 15. The lever 14 is pivoted at its center to the bracket 13 and has its ends connected to a substantially continuous cable 16 which passes over the pulleys 12 and engages the wheel 10. The casing 2 is provided with a downwardly extending music leaf sustaining board or member 17 having its end provided with an offset or ledge 18.

The numeral 19 designates the leaf turning arms. These arms 19 have one of their extremities offset to provide vertically eX- tending members 20 which project within a rounded portion of the casing 2. These projecting arms 20 have their outer ends or sides engaged in suitable eyes or odisets 21 provided upon the partition 4, and these members 20 are also each provided with a projecting finger 22. The horizontal arms of the members 19 are each provided with suitable resilient clasps 23, which are adapted to engage the upper 'edges of t-he music leaf to be turned. If desired these members 28 may be securely attached to suitable reinforcing wire members 24 and may have their tops or heads provided with suitable eyes 25 whereby they may be retained upon the turning arms 19, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

The wheel 3 has its face provided with a plurality of outturned lingers 27. The iingers are arranged in pairs and are disposed in opposite directions. The adjacent fingers 27 of each pair have theiradjacent faces curved and are divided from each other by a suitable slot or cut-away portion 26, as

clearly shown in Fig. 5. The fingers 2T are adapted, when the wheel is rotated, to foact with the offsets or fingers Q2 provided upon the turning arms 19.

It is to be understood that each of the turning arms provided with the offsets 2Q is arranged in the path of two oppositely arranged curved fingers 27, and it will be understood that as the wheel is revolved the said offsets will be successively contacted by the said fingers 27 so that the music leaf carrying arms will be swung in the same direction, one directly after the other as the foot pedals l5 are moved in one direction. It will be obvious that when the pedals are moved or swung in an opposite direction the second curved finger of each of the series will engage wit-h the offsets Q2 and successively return the arms 19 to their initial position, it being evident that the movement of the foot pedals 15 which are provided with the cables 16 will cause the sector 9 to be partially rotated upon its pivot and as a consequence the cable connected with said sector and which engages the wheel 3 will cause a partial rotation of' the said wheel.

Having thus fully described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination with a piano, of a cas ing positioned upon the top of' the piano, said casing comprising a rounded forwardly extending portion, a wheel pivotally mounted within this extension, a partition within the extension, the partition being provided with spaced eyes, a plurality of music leaf turning arms having offset projections, said offset projections adapted to engage with the eyes of the partitions, the said projections being provided each with an offset portion, a plurality of curved fingers arranged in pairs and in spaced relation with each other and surrounding the periphery of the wheel, the said fingers being disposed in opposite directions to each other and within the path of' the offsets of the turning arms, and means for rotating' the wheel to cause the curved fingers to engage consecutively the fingers of the offset portions of the turning` arms.

2. The combination with a piano, of a cas ing upon the top of the piano, said casing being provided with a music receiving ledge, a wheel within the casing, said wheel being provided with a plurality of curved fingers, said curved fingers being arranged in pairs and the periphery of the wheel being provided with slots between each of said pairs of fingers, a plurality of leaf-turning arms, each of said arms having an angular extension pivotally mounted within the casing, each of said extensions being formed with offset portions, each of said offset portions being positioned to pass between a pair of the curved fingers and means for rotating the wheel so as to bring the .fingers consecutivelv into engagement with the offsets of the turning arms for swinging each of the said arms one after the other.

3. The combination with a piano, of a casing upon the top of the piano, said casing being provided with a music-receiving ledge, a wheel within the casing, said wheel being provided upon its periphery with a plurality of' spaced stepped fingers, the said fingers being arranged in pairs and having their ends projecting in opposite directions, a plurality of music-leaf turning arms trunnioned within the casing, cach of said arms having offset portions which is positioned within the path of the respective pairs of oppositely curved fingers, a flexible element surrounding the wheel, and means connected to the lower portion of the front of the piano secured to the flexible element which is adapted to operate the latter to rotate the wheel to bring the fingers of the said wheel into engagement with the offsets of the leaf-l turning arms successively so as to cause the said arms to swing in a determined direction one after the other.

4. The combination with a piano, of a casing positioned upon the top of the piano, a wheel mounted for rotation within the casing, said wheel having its periphery provided with ay plurality of spaced stepped lingers, said fingers being curved and arranged in pairs, a partition within the casing, aplurality of turning arms mounted for rotation upon the partition, each of' the said arms being arranged in spaced relation with each other and each of' the arms being provided with offsets, each of said offsets positioned within the path of each of the pairs of curved fingers, a segment pivotally connected to the rear of the piano, a flexible element surrounding the wheel and connected with the opposite ends of the segment, a pulley connected with the segment, a flexible element upon the pulley, a lever connected with the front of the piano and with the ends of the flexible element, and foot pedals upon the lever.

5. The combination with a piano, of a music-leaf turner, said music-leaf turner comprising a casing positioned upon the top of the piano, said casing being provided with a trunnioned wheel, the periphery of the wheel being formed with a plurality of spaced stepped fingers, the said fingers being curved and arranged in pairs and having their ends disposed in opposite directions, a partition within the casing, rollers upon the partition, cables passing over the rollers and surrounding the wheel adjacent its opposite ends, a segment pivotally secured to the back of the piano and having its opposite ends each connected with one of the cables, a grooved wheel upon the seg- CUBA E. BELL.

ment, a bracket upon the front of the piano, l a lever centrally pivoted to the bracket, a. cable engaging the grooved Wheel and connected With the opposite ends of the lever, a plurality of turning arms Within the easing, and each of said arms being formed with offsets each of which being arranged Within the path of each of the pairs of oplVitnesses FRANK E. GIELOW, BENJAMIN R. Cross.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

